Tournament AG Snake Draft I - Commencement Thread

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Nevelle

fly high
AG SNAKE DRAFT I POWER RANKINGS

Welcome to the Power Rankings for AG Snake Draft I! This is based off of the AGPL Power Rankings that Catalystic does, with the goal of these rankings being to hype up the upcoming few weeks and give a representation of where each team is believed to stand in relation to the other teams. With this edition of the Power Rankings, we decided to do things in a simpler way, as ranking each player in each tier is a bit of a hassle. To obtain these rankings, we asked the manager from each team to rank every team excluding their own, from 1-5. These numbers were averaged to obtain the final ranking.

Even though the whole system serves to be as unbiased as possible, it does not mean these rankings will be predicative of final results! In fact, this ranking is simply the collective aggregate opinion of the managers. If you or your team end up low on this power ranking, please don't take it to heart; this tournament is meant to be fun and it is up to you to prove opinions wrong! However, if you feel that your pride hinges on these rankings, you may feel free to voice your complaints here and they might be answered.

Although the rankings are a product of the managers' collective opinion, not just my own, I have included some thoughts on each team and their potential strengths/weaknesses. A big thank you to all of the managers for contributing to the rankings! This includes Pigeons velvet Ainzcrad Bread Sandwich Jho (and myself)

Now, here are the rankings!


1. :darmanitan-galar: DC Darmanitans :darmanitan-galar:
The Darms have a solid lineup no doubt. Guard went 4-1 in AGPL II and TrueNora went 5-0—together, they make up a very strong backbone for the Darms' Galar squad. Andyboy and Kaitlyn are both solid Natdex AG players, with Andyboy having a 4-0 run in AGPL II and Kate making it to semis of the AG Circuit Playoffs. Vivalospride is a solid USUM player and Leru is a proven capable ORAS player. ShionShadows and Tic-Tac-Toe Guru are both solid subs that could come in and make an impact when needed. Overall, I don't see any major holes in this lineup, which says something.

2. :pidgey: Pudgy Pidgeys :pidgey:
Pigeons went for the "Holy Trinity" strat here, which could pay massive dividends. Catalystic, PurpleGatorade, and Pigeons have very strong chemistry from being longtime friends, and should work together very effectively here. In Galar, Catalystic made the finals of the DLC2 Kickoff Tour and should be very solid here. Maple is perhaps less proven in AG, but should do fine with team support. Staxi is a solid Natdex AG player, having qualified for the Circuit Playoffs, and GRNBLN is a generally versatile player that should transition well to Natdex AG. Jrdn is a very capable USUM player, having proved himself with his 5-0 record in AGPL II and defeating the likes of Skarph, Icemaster, and Catalystic. Frogger1387 and iLlama are very strong subs that could also help with team building.

3. :calyrex-shadow: Sinister Shadow Riders :calyrex-shadow:
The Shadow-Riders have a generally well-rounded lineup, with standouts in every format. Skarph is the best USUM player and generally versatile enough to slot into any other AG format when needed. MZ is another strong USUM and ORAS player that can move between the two. Cromagnet and Orch make up the core of the Galar squad here, with Cromagnet in particular being both a proven player and builder, especially in team tours. Geysers is the backbone of the Natdex AG squad, having had a solid Circuit Tour run and a 3-1 record in AGPL II. Dream is a very strong ORAS Ubers player, and his performance in AGPL II showed that he could transfer his ability over to AG. For the subs, Raj.Shoot and DNNP are both very strong players that can adapt and fill in where needed.

(TIE) 4. :giratina: Griseous Giratinas :giratina:
On paper, the Girseous Girantinas are eye-popping. With a roster full of proven names in the AG community, there is no doubt the Giratinas can perform very well. Icemaster is best Natdex player in the field, having just won the Circuit Playoffs. He also won the DLC2 Kickoff Tour and thus can slot into Galar when needed. Pichus is another proven Natdex AG player, having won the Spring Seasonal, and she is also versatile enough to slot into USUM or ORAS whenever needed. In Galar, Lotiasite and Royal1604 are perhaps a bit less experienced at the tier, but are both skilled players that should do well with team support. Zenithial is top 2 USUM player and should perform very well in this slot. Shivam3299 is a solid all-arounder, and Fardin and Miraage are both strong subs. How well this team does comes down to if they can match their very high potential. Some of the big names here did not have the strongest records in AGPL II, but are very threatening nonetheless in the team tour format. The other mystery factor here is Fardin—the manager of the AGPL II champions, he is prolific builder and a dependable team player, but may not be able to spend as much time in this tour due to other commitments.

(TIE) 4. :mandibuzz: Malding Madibuzzes :mandibuzz:
Clearly, someone was taking notes from the Salt-Mining Sableyes. Jho went with the "OM Goons" strategy, drafting Xavgb and Aesf early on. They're both strong players (both went 4-1 in AGPL II) that should perform very well, given that they are passed teams. PinkDragonTamer is a strong all-around player that proved himself in Natdex AG in AGPL II, and Chloe is a very capable ORAS player that is also well versed in Natdex AG. Monsareeasy is a solid Galar and Natdex AG player, having qualified for the Circuit Playoffs, and Dockiva is a strong option for the USUM slot. Jerryl309 and Rabia are both solid subs that can make an impact where they are needed. Overall, the biggest hurdle I see for this team is building, due to the relative scarcity of AG mains—there seems to be an over reliance on Chloe and Monsareeasy to churn out teams, but I'm sure that Jho has some other plans figured out.

6. :eternatus: Eternal Eternatus :eternatus:
The Eternatus are perhaps the least proven team here, at least on paper. However, as we all learned from AGPL II, Velvet should never be counted out as a manager. Choosing to draft with personality as the main factor, Velvet often facilitates strong team culture that brings out the best in her players. Fc is a very strong Gen 8 Ubers player, and should translate that skill nicely to Galar AG. Sevelon and Sputnik are established Natdex OU players that could do well in Natdex AG when passed teams. Pannuracotta is also a Natdex OU main that could make an impact here. King Leo and WSun1 are solid USUM players, and Skysolo is a strong Ubers player that has a good amount of AG experience from prior team tours. Snom Bob is perhaps a bit less established, but could make an impact with team support. If there's one thing this team doesn't lack, it's building—Velvet and WSun1 are both strong builders and should support their team very well.


Thanks for reading. I look forward to the weeks ahead!
 
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pdt

is a Past SCL Champion
PUPL Champion
Overall, the biggest hurdle I see for this team is building, due to the relative scarcity of AG mains—there seems to be an over reliance on Chloe and Monsareeasy to churn out teams, but I'm sure that Jho has some other plans figured out.
streshYesterday at 9:25 PM
im working on it
JhoYesterday at 9:25 PM
Stresh is working on it
pdtYesterday at 9:25 PM
Stresh is working on it

"We" are working on it
 

Guard

حرروا فلسطين
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
OMPL Champion
s/o time! We didn't advance as far as we'd have liked to but who cares when you get to build friendships with so many awesome people. That's what team tours are for after all!

Bread Sandwich - dude words literally cannot express how glad I was to be a part of your team, thank you so much for drafting me so unreasonably early even though this was just going to be my overall 2nd team tour and I never actually do well in tours on the whole. Felt pretty bad you had to sacrifice the ability to play yourself in the act of drafting me, ridiculous rule that I'm going to hard veto every time from now on as long as I have a say for sure. You were a good manager and hopefully we'll get to team up in many more team tours in the future in which you'll actually get to play so I can be a witness to your famed cheesy way of conquering any AG meta first-hand!

Zayele - oh God, where do I start? Perhaps it's fitting to just reminisce where it all began? I joined AG about a year ago as a really mediocre player that didn't know any of AG's history and so went through some sad and dark times at the beginning that aren't worth repeating here. Amidst of all that, the brightest memory would easily be the day you randomly wanted to play some test matches with me. Who would've expected that'd set the foundation of a friendship I easily value the most out of all ^-^ You've been through it all with me and conversely I have been able to be there for you during some of your hardships on this site. We've had so much fun in general too, seeking advice from each other, reading the most magical books, talking about anything and everything and anyone and everyone, and just gossiping our hearts out LOL. Here we are, about a year later, with you drafting me in the first team tour you've managed, before anyone else even though you knew I had an unhumanly busy January. I don't even know how to word it in a way that'll do some justice to it all, but thank you so so much! Just this simple showing of trust really brought the best out of me and spurred me to try my hardest no matter whatever else was going on irl so I didn't end up disappointing you and my teammates. You were such an awesome manager too, singlehandedly carrying our ORAS teambuilding, doing a part of our USM teambuilding, and always making sure everyone was valued in the team. We lost, but I'd genuinely take this anytime over a win under any other manager!

TrueNora - I've been a big fan of yours ever since you slayed it in last year's AGPL so playing alongside you was absolutely one of the things I looked forward to the most. You didn't end up with the output you wanted to have and I really do wish my schedule would've allowed me to help you out more actively but just know that this doesn't take anything away from it all! You still built really impressive teams every week, you were willing to give honest feedback on my stuff and call me out on the nonsense I pasted here and there loool and you were willing to play tests against some of the most infuriating stuff I've built to date. I really hope we'll get to play together sometime soon again because you're still a GOAT and I'm still a big fan for what that's worth :p

Kaitlyn - I KNEW YOU'D END UP TURNING ME INTO A FURRY AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA But in return I did get you to change opinions from 'guard is mid convince me otherwise' to 'goat' LOL so who's the real winner eh? Jokes aside, I personally feel like our new friendship is by far and away definitely the best thing I can take from this tour. I'm really glad I got to know you beyond the player I already respected a ton (who knew we were both tennis nerds looool) because you're genuinely an awesome person (although you suck at getting likes let's be real). Welcoming you back into the community was my first act as leader too so that'll always have significant value attached to it as well. You did well as expected and you were willing to actually build stuff for yourself and Andy even though you were playing the worst meta in history and that really showed that you're dedicated and a great team player. Here's to hoping we'll end up on some more teams together in the future!

Tic-Tac-Toe Guru - yoooo you got the win!!! And not just against some rando too I should add hot damn! I'm honestly just so happy for you, that moment was absolutely a personal highlight :) I also really can't emphasize enough that you honestly have so much potential; don't doubt that for a moment. I also want to stress that you shouldn't get too discouraged by losses, take it from this professional choker :p

Andyboy - I can tell why Fardin hypes you up so much good god how do people flaunt such a high skill ceiling so effortlessly I will literally never understand. I know you ultimately aren't too proud of your performance but that's really more telling of what a clownery this metagame is than your skills. The fact that your opponents were actively trying to cheese you is evidence enough of just how highly regarded you are as a player. It was such an honor playing alongside you and building for you and I truly hope it'll be bestowed upon me again as soon as possible!

Leru - anyone that plays ORAS AG for 5 weeks straight is a goat and deserves a hell lot of respect period. I was incredibly impressed by your matches and thought you definitely would've gone undefeated if not for some unfortunate matchup. You were really willing to put in the effort to perform week in week out and that is more than what someone can ask for in a teammate. Hope to see you around in many more tours to come, we'll need someone to break Fardin with dn jokes before he goes off drafting another team of broken om goons and winning another tour ;;

vivalospride - Viv you're such a goat don't let your record convince you of anything else, I know I literally couldn't care less about it. All you can ask from a teammate is for them to have a fun time playing and interacting and I sincerely hope you did. I wish we got to interact some more but who knows maybe we'll get the chance some other time. I'm sure you'll farm the entire pool when we do in any case :]

ShionShadows - we almost got em hah! I'm so glad we could still give you a match after you didn't get one in NDPL already. Really hope you had fun in your game, I thought it was pretty fun to spectate in any case, you were one correct sack away from beating a goat!!! Hopefully this isn't the last I'll see from you in AG :)

I definitely want to give a special shoutout to BaconEatinAssassin, you're doing a terrific job at hosting! Shoutouts to cromagnet for keeping track of replays as well, posting usage stats would have been incredibly hard without you! Congrats to Ainzcrad, Nevelle, Jho and their teammates for deservedly making it to playoffs as well. No matter what happens, I'm sure there are a lot more quality matches coming up and wish all of you the best!
 

Nevelle

fly high
whew! what a tour. riders, know that i am extremely proud of every single one of you. we didn't go out the way we wanted to, but we sure did lots of damage along the way, ending the regular season with the strongest W-L ratio and making playoffs! i'd like to shoutout some key individuals for making my first managing experience so fun and rewarding:


cromagnet for being the best co i could ask for, and singlehandedly carrying building for our galar department! although i know you wanted to do better individually in this tour, your building support and leadership were stellar. i look forwarding to playing alongside you in future team tours bro

Skarph you were my #1 pick from the start, and you sure as heck showed it. with a 4-2 record and impressive wins in both your home tier and in dlc2 natdex, you really made your mark in this tour. you drafted me onto my first team tour last summer, and i could not have been more happy to be your manager this time around

Geysers you may be goofy sometimes, but you sure know how to pick up wins. so glad I took you early on in the draft, not only did you go 4-2 but you also were a prolific builder, which took a lot of pressure away from me—you always seemed to have an idea in mind, and would put it into action. just don't talk to me about mluc again

orch man. i think many would agree with me that you are the breakout player of this tour. when i originally traded for you, i knew almost nothing about you—in fact, all i knew was that cro put in a good word for you, and that was enough for me. and man did taking you pay off. you really made your mark this tour, going 4-2, and i look forward to seeing what you do in the future. #SheerColdOgre4Lyfe

MZ i was nothing short of amazed at your consistency during this tour. no matter the situation, you always seemed able to step in and take a win for us, including subbing in twice. during weeks where we struggled, you were always there to win for us and turn things around. going 4-1 (3-0 in oras) is no small feat and you should be very proud of it

DNNP when i first drafted you, i thought i had made a mistake. namely, because your signup post was a joke and cro and i somehow did not notice. oops. except not oops, cause you absolutely killed it this tour. going 3-1 (3-0 in natdex) and defeating the likes of icemaster (twice!!), i can truly say that putting you in week 3 was what turned our fortunes around and started our streak of wins. if orch was the breakout player of the tour, you are definitely a close second—all i had to do was pass you a team, and you'd secure the bag. absolute legend

dream the other half of our based oras department that went undefeated in the regular season. you were so clutch early on, including a very memorable win where you geo'ed turn 1 and won. really cool stuff. not the ending you would've wanted to your run in this tour, but hey we all have our bad days. def couldn't have made it as far as we did without your clutchness in the oras slot

RaJ.Shoot i'm glad that i went with my gut in drafting you, even with more experienced ag players in the pool. you were such a great presence in the chat and an overall amazing teammate. i know that you didn't have the individual run you would've wanted, but i hope that playing here was a fun experience for you—i hope to see you around more in ag


Maxomega for joining as a helper partway through the tour, your building support was definitely appreciated by us. most notably, you came up with a 6 mon skelton for ndag that ended up being the team that we beat ice with in week 4. good stuff man

WSun1 for also joining as a helper after the regular season, and more importantly for playing countless ndag friendlies with me throughout the tour. i learned a lot about the dlc2 ndag meta from our many games, and became a better builder because of it. never forget that we solved the dlc2 ndag meta. (oml its too free. farmed.) #CMGroundceus #DittoBulkyOffense

BaconEatinAssassin for being an exemplary tour host and not explaining your random emote in my disc until today. also for giving me the "dumbass" and "enemy of the people" roles in my own discord just for kicks. sometimes i wonder about you. also, nice job chickening out, Fardin will agree with me on this one #HeScared

Ainzcrad Bread Sandwich Jho Pigeons velvet for being great sports as fellow managers during this tour


i think is safe to say that ag snake 1 was an overwhelming success. my team may not have won, but we truly enjoyed the ride. good luck to the mandibuzzes and giratinas in the finals—i look forward to seeing some quality games this week. i will end this note with a dump of some dlc2 natdex teams that i particularly enjoyed building:

https://pokepast.es/13e40b92c8704f73 (primal ogre + band marsh + cm ground)
https://pokepast.es/32b9f8f541de7880 (bp caly webs)
https://pokepast.es/a5ca43a5535c82d4 (bp caly + lo etern)
https://pokepast.es/bd1a1ce23055592d (geoxern + band marsh + cm ground)

pce out ag snake. it's been real
 
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Ainzcrad

Smile of the Orchid
is a Tiering Contributor
We lost in Finals huh, kinda a weird finals if i am being honest but its whatever. Salty as shit when i was writing this soooooo, but that doesn't mean people dont deserve there s/o.

Icemaster the dude who i made the draft with, u helped our team so much in anything really. Managing, Building and Also winning. Was really fun teaming up again even tho it was a more serious setting. U are still a great friend in my eyes and the best ag player atm. Thanks for everything

Zenithial THE USUM AG GOD 2. Bro u build 5 teams are week for this in a old ass tier u are great. Mid r2 pick-up (how???), always posting ur teams letting us know whats up. Sorry for not giving u a final title before u leave. Thanks for everything and hope u enjoyed this tour.

Fardin The monster of all tiers. Where do i start? U just randomly hit me up and w1, yo i can play oras. And we slotted u in and man u went brazy. Prep+team présence 10/10, playing 10/10 only losing tnx to hax. Bro U made me lazy in building :v. I am really glad to have met u, teamed with u, talked with u and managed u. GL in the remaining tours ur planning to play in and winning a indiv tour .

pichus The goat who wanted usum and we didn't notice during drafting. U were my agpl manager and look at this now kek both swapped Each others roles. Even tho u are fucking busy u still build for urself+played when u had time in the tier u didnt even signed up for. We needed a nag slot and u came and smoked so many people. Thanks for making it a fun time again.

Shivam3299 UNDERRATED AG PLAYER ALERT!!!!!! Bro u were a secondary manager, u did everything links didn't do LMFAO. I loved ur team présence, talking to u, Building and much more that is too much to write down. U played good, prepped good, amazing to talk to and i hope to see u in agpl aswell.

Royal1604 ubers main Who did great in gag. Even tho u were busy in the weekdays u always pulled in the weekends going brazy on building and testing. Supporting the team and just being funny when i had to laugh. I am glad we picked u up and i am glad to have met u. Hopefully u stay a tat bit longer in ag!

lotiasite sorry i couldn't slot u in more. U were great with helping the team out+présence. Also ur building was on point holy fuck. Glad i picked u up and have met u.

miraage Bro ur a goofy. Jokes aside i was glad i could have picked u up since i knew i could always trust on u to be there if we needed u, hilarious in team chat, active even tho u didnt know the tiers. And always was there to support. Glad to have u to have picked u up and hopefully i showed u that ag is fun!

Pannuracotta Joined semis and started causing prep... Ur a good friend of mine who ik i can trust, not cause chaos and help a shit ton in building. Without u we might not have made finals js.

Links Thanks for agreeing to manage even tho u dont know shit about ag. I knew i could trust u so we went with it.

Also quick s/o to The Number Man , StitChuu , cromagnet , ShionShadows , Zayele , WSun1 , RaJ.Shoot , youngsterjoeyv69 and of course the sinister shadows main manager Nevelle for helping out the Tinas!!!!

Gz mandibuzzes and thanks BaconEatinAssassin For hosting!
 

pdt

is a Past SCL Champion
PUPL Champion
hello i would like to talk about the teams i built this tour and thank you to Jho and Jordy for a great tour and om goon core aesf and xavgb . shoutout to the ag mains on our team as well Monsareeasy , jerryl309 , Dockiva~~ , and my friend Chloe yall were all amazing.

thanks to Rabia for being a great shadow manager with his key contributions

Screenshot 2021-02-21 at 4.07.20 PM.png


now here are ag main pdt teams, i mainly built my own natdex teams except i used stresh's ho vs. frogger and i also built some galar teams for aesf to use

Screenshot 2021-02-21 at 3.55.54 PM.png

Screenshot 2021-02-21 at 3.59.02 PM.png

this archetype is simply amazing, that i had to use it in both natdex and galar. use goth to trap ndm, etern, or support arcs and then use ogre and zac-c to beat them down, then a defensive backbone to handle most of the threatening breakers to give me time to execute the game plan. the natdex team i used double trapping because cm arceus is dangerous as well as shoring up the pdon and mray matchup, key difference between natdex and galar. for galar i just went for shed shell ogre because there was a lot of block cm kyogre going around and i didn't want any part of that, looking back the team has a p dire matchup against cm ibeam ogre but it is doable.

natdex: https://pokepast.es/dc6bfb41627081fc


w1 me vs. pichus: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1258971358
- got a matchup i wanted as well as some fortune that made this game very straightforward
w2 stresh vs. raj: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1264097346
- stresh plays like a crackhead with my team, goth goes out of its mind and avoids freezes and crits from arc and ndm respectively, and then the game is just over after that

galar: https://pokepast.es/b5e033aad026ff2a

w3 vs. orch: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8anythinggoes-536631
- aesf gets lucky as this team has a very dire xern matchup, (the natdex zac-c spread takes +2 max lightning after rocks so you could employ that here) and gets the paras and dodges a twaves and a sheer cold in what was otherwise a very dire game, but goth traps ndm and stalls its sunsteels that ends up mattering in the end


Screenshot 2021-02-21 at 3.56.04 PM.png

Screenshot 2021-02-21 at 3.59.06 PM.png

Screenshot 2021-02-21 at 3.59.05 PM.png


nasty plot and baton pass is what truly breaks calyrex, because while yveltal or arceus-dark or scarf pursuit marshadow are mandatory for this monster, baton passing out vs yveltal mainly and suddenly you have momentum, advantageous matchup, and +2, and if they predict the bp and go for uturn on a potential sub or dmax (lo max starfall usually) they could lose the game on the spot. good receivers are yveltal, xerneas, eternatus, and kyogre as they all have good matchups vs yveltal used to check calyrex. just have to be careful of ditto when using this strategy, but the teams have tools to apply pressure without the baton pass function, its just an added bonus. this archetype is extremely broken and makes calyrex uncompetitive. obviously its ag but the metas would be way better if it were banned.

natdex: https://pokepast.es/2da836d4a100d4ee

the idea behind this team was to use zyg as a paraspammer and a sponge to open up the way for lo yveltal and calyrex, pdon spd yveltal and calyrex provided a backbone, and pdon and fairyceus have twave for the very purpose of yveltal and calyrex, in certain situations can make their dmaxes very dangerous and basically autowinning.

w3 me vs geysers: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1263519258
- team had a horrible lo etern matchup, and combined with some weird turns like risking the etern vs my calyrex and paras the game i lost, although he did get me on some of those etern turns.

galar xern + double ygod: https://pokepast.es/2172ae15216d2042

similar concept to the natdex one, double ygod for calyrex and ditto security, but this team was a bit more dedicated to the baton pass aspect of it with scarf xern and etern becoming potential targets for the pass. stole pass + scarf xern off fardin or someone else in snake draft pretty sure so creds to them for that concept, although i explored this double ygod + caly structure a lot and found it pretty dangerous.

w4 aesf vs. cata: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8anythinggoes-1273470458
- got some paras that made it easier but cata was extremely weak to calyrex which caused him to burn his dmax for basically nothing and let caly clean up, also we almost threw to agility zac-c because aesf did not know it received that move

galar sub etern + roar ogre: https://pokepast.es/941e2044dad7eb03

i wanted to use np pass calyrex into sub etern because +2 etern just wins games by itself and if it cannot be revenged easily by zac-c or ditto with a sub up. it also subs on foul play yveltal which most were running because of dmax groudon, which is very useful. roar ogre i wanted to try out bc i didn't feel like engaging in crit wars and roaring out etern with rocks up could make it very annoying to check. i had scarf xern in the ditto slot at a point but i felt too weak to calyrex and xerneas so i changed it.

finals aesf vs shivam: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8anythinggoes-1286661719
the team was susceptible to paralysis and we got punished for that by getting para'd a lot and losing the game. this game was obviously doable but the beginning wasn't very clean and then we did not get to move


Screenshot 2021-02-21 at 3.56.07 PM.png

Screenshot 2021-02-21 at 3.56.01 PM.png


arceus is what makes me like to play natdex over galar, the flexibility of building and checking brokens can suddenly become much more creative, which i am a fan of. these teams showcase underutilized cm arceus forms with the intent of being the main dynamax target

god arc-electric: https://pokepast.es/764f1ce0f8ed83ab

arc-electric is so interesting to me, being able to resist max airstream and 1v1 yveltal under certain conditions, resisting behemoth blade and being neutral vs. zac-c's coverage, being able to outspeed and ice beam mray, and there being very limited grounds and in pdon's case without reliable recovery in the tier are some of my favorite aspects about it. i used pdon + ditto as my backbone to deal with opposing zac-c, yveltal to support ditto with caly, arc-water as pdon and extra mray insurance, and then zac-c to deal with many of the threatening cm arceus forms. yveltal + waterceus + pdon + ditto is a core i found myself using a lot in the calyrex meta and it is extremely good for limiting the brokens, except when they just baton pass and own you bc its busted.

w4 vs. sevelon: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8nationaldexag-538670
- i was pretty weak to xerneas but i was able to win the speed tie, and then ditto+defensive core did its job for arc-electric to clean in the end

god arc-steel: https://pokepast.es/e916bd3f4883a64f

icemaster and i agreed to no caly for the finals, which meant we were back to a similar meta of pre-dlc1 natdex ag. i definitely wanted to take advantage of dmax cm arceus and zac-c when i agreed to no caly. when stresh gave me his arc-steel + eleki ho to use i had a fun time on ladder using arc-steel as the main dmax target, because max steelspike can be so deadly after just one boost because it becomes very difficult to revenge. i wanted to make my own take on this idea and decided to use pdon + steelceus + zac-c, because of steelceus' ability to setup on a lot of ndm and pdon's ability to rock on ho-oh, which is tough but definitely not impossible to deal with. i wanted ho-oh which became significantly more viable for no caly to improof my zac-c and to spread twave for arc and mray. ice uses a lot of arceus so i wanted dd ray to break through that. i had 3 good tools for breaking down his balance builds and a backbone that protected me against some of his preferred wincons

finals vs icemaster: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1287013722
- this game was unfortunate, but i was ahead early game with some aggressive plays especially vs. arc-ground, but then i wasn't able to use my arceus paired with some unfortunate twave moments and lost, creds to ice for playing his wincon in this though


again thanks to my managers for letting me play and thanks to the hosts as well

go mandis
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